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The third and final T20I of the three-T20I series at Napier ended in a bizarre tie. The Rain Gods intervened when DLS par scores were tied and the game could not restart even for one more over as India won the T20I series by 1-0.
Chasing 161, India lost both openers Ishan Kishan (10) and Rishabh Pant (11) inside three overs. Tim Southee got the wicket of Shreyas Iyer for a golden duck with the obvious short ball as India were struggling at 21/3 in 2.5 overs.
Skipper Hardik Pandya got a second life when he was dropped by Ish Sodhi at third man. Despite three quick wickets in the powerplay overs, India maintained a healthy run rate. Pandya went for a rampage as India scored 58/3 after the first six overs.
Suryakumar Yadav hit a four and a six but lost his wicket trying to play a chip shot towards on-side. Suryakumar scored 13 runs from 10 deliveries. Deepak Hooda joined Pandya in the middle. Hooda contributed with a run-a-ball nine runs as Pandya did the most of damage. The all-rounder remained unbeaten for 30 runs from 18 deliveries including three fours and one six.
When the rain intervened, India’s score was 75/4 after nine overs which was equal to the DLS par score. It poured heavily and the game ended in a tie.
Earlier, Southee won the toss and opted to bat first. Finn Allen's poor run continued as Arshdeep trapped him in front of the stumps with an in-swinger. Mark Chapman who replaced Kane Williamson in the side scored a run-a-ball 12 before getting dismissed by Mohammed Siraj. Devon Conway started off with a lot of dot balls but made up for it during the fielding restrictions itself. New Zealand had 46 runs on the board after six overs.
Glenn Phillips took his time at the beginning. Phillips took the offensive route against Yuzvendra Chahal hitting him for a couple of boundaries in the 10th over. He was in no mood to spare Chahal on a small ground. The in-form Kiwi batter hit him out of the stadium in the 13th over. He continued the onslaught against Bhuvneshwar Kumar as well. Meanwhile, Conway got to his half-century from 39 deliveries.
Phillips reached his half-century with a six off Harshal Patel in the 15th over. He took 30 deliveries to get to the fifty-run mark. In the last five overs, everything changed. Siraj got the wicket of Phillips. His 33-ball 54 was studded with five fours and three sixes. In the next over, Arshdeep made up for the expensive first spell and got the wicket of Conway. The opener scored 59 runs from 49 deliveries including five fours and two sixes.
New Zealand suffered a collapse as James Neesham got out for a duck and Mitchell Santner returned to the pavillion after scoring just a single. Siraj finished with four wickets for 17 runs, his career-best T20I bowling figures. WIckets tumbled in the penultimate over as well. Daryl Mitchell (10) was the first to fall. Sodhi got bowled for a golden duck whereas Siraj affected a run out to complete team hat-trick. In the last over Southee got dismissed by Harshal as New Zealand got all out for 160.
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